Dear Tweets;

I have been attempting to read a paper on Mast producing trees and
geographical ecology of Western Scrub Jays. The technical analysis is
quite frustrating to interpret given the amount of reference to
numerical analysis of which I am so unfamiliar! In general, it was
said that acorn production benefitted scrub jay population by
increasing reproductive success.

Does this also mean in a year that provides for poor acorn production
that the population of Western Scrub Jay may decline in the year that
follows?

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5dWTSbMv7AYY2MyMjAyMDMtOGM5Ny00NTg1LWE1MjAtMWM0MWVkZDVkYWE0&hl=en

Another title by Mary K. Coldren (ca. 1997)
http://txtbba.tamu.edu/accounts/scja/scjaacc.html puzzled me in that
it appeared to be questionable if Western Scrub Jays had the habit of
assisting with feeding at the nest. No one knows this? That seemed
odd to me especially since the mapping of the Western Scrub Jay
appears south in Mexico to the North in Western Washington.
Evidently, Western Scrub Jay species differ given recent genetic
findings (2003?). (Surprise to me again, there...) It was said that
the only species known to help at the nest were the Mexican species,
A. c. sumichrasti.

Now I have to find pictures of a Mexican Western scrub jay - A. c.
sumichrasti - and find pics of the other variety of sub-species of
Western Scrub jay. I don't think my Peterson's makes the difference on
p. 284, c. 2008.

The wiki was helpful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Scrub_Jay ___and this
description___ http://www.avianweb.com/westernscrubjays.html __of
differences in sub-species was good reading.

Genetics is so confusing!

"Judging from mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence data, it
appears there are two clades, namely a Pacific one west and one east
of the Rocky Mountains; the relationships of populations in the latter
are not resolvable to satisfaction. Thus, it is fairly likely the
Western Scrub-Jay is actually another two distinct species, one
belonging to the Pacific and another one to the eastern lineage(s);
the latter's ancestors apparently gave rise to the Florida Scrub-Jay
as well. Paleogeography of the Rocky Mountains range supports this
scenario.

Inland birds (Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, woodhouseii group and
Sumichrast's Scrub-Jay, sumichrasti group) differ in plumage (paler
blue above, with an indistinct and usually incomplete breast band)
from the coastal birds (California Scrub-Jay, californica group) which
are darker blue above with a strongly defined - but not necessarily
complete - blue breast band. The three groups also differ in ecology
and behavior. The beaks of the California and Sumichrast's groups are
strong and hooked at the tip, as they feed on acorns, whereas the
pinyon-nut feeding Woodhouse's group has a longer, slimmer and
straighter bill with little or no hook.

Each group contains a number of subspecies..."
--http://www.avianweb.com/westernscrubjays.html

It is so much fun to learn something new.

Michelle
Yelm
Thurston county
yelmbackyard at gmail.com